The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers' Fang interacts with fans during the game against the Beloit Snappers Thursday, August, 11, 2011, at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute, Wisconsin. Dan Powers/The Post-Crescent / The Post-Crescent

Written by

Maureen Wallenfang

Post-Crescent Media

If you’re heading out to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers’ season opener Thursday, you can partake in another local institution, the brandy old fashioned sweet.

The classic supper club cocktail and its drinking buddy, the whiskey old fashioned sour, are part of the locally sourced food and beverage lineup at the Grand Chute baseball stadium.

Every Thursday is now $2 Thirsty Thursday under a sponsorship agreement with Arty’s out of Clintonville.

Last year the Timber Rattlers tested Arty’s cocktails. “Their first purchase was 20 cases just to see if it would move,” said Arty’s co-owner Timothy Pappin. “We ended up shipping 400 cases for the season and now we’re a staple menu item.”

Arty’s could join the ranks of other local or regional/state products that have a long history with the T-Rats.

“Cedar Crest, Cher-Make, Valley Popcorn and McCain have been here for more than a decade,” said food and beverage director Ryan “Pooby” Grossman. (The four companies are from Cedarburg, Manitowoc, Neenah and Grand Chute respectively.)

The stadium also pours Stone Cellar Brewpub’s Stone Arch beer on the club level and has Darboy’s Lamers Dairy chocolate milk at concession stands. Its DiGiorno pizzas are made in Little Chute. Brakebush out of Westfield has a new Squawkers Chicken concession stand on the third base side.

“We try to keep things local as much as we can,” said Grossman. “A lot of our sponsors are local, and if they take care of us, we like to take care of them.”